Details

Date Published

Date Built

CPU Clock Rate

GPU Core Clock Rate

GPU Effective Memory Clock Rate

Description

This is my first build, I aimed to use it as a decent gaming budget build.

Also, I know I have rebates provided to me, I'm currently in the process of sending them out so I will not update that until I've actually completed the process and received my money back.

All of the parts have been purchased from Microcenter except for the mouse/keyboard, speaker set and OS.

The performance is outstanding in this little rig for what it is! It performs well on games such a GTA V, Rocket League, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Warface, Warframe, and many more! I'm very satisfied with it as it is my first build.

Updates:

I've listed each update as the first set of pictures presented in the slideshow.

Update 12/16/2017: The keyboard was given as a gift by my girlfriend for Christmas 2017, but purchased on Ebay. Previously was using a keyboard bought from an Amazon mouse and keyboard set.

Update 12/17/2017: I bought a cheap speaker set from Walmart until I'm able to afford a better quality set.

Update 12/16/2017: The keyboard was given as a gift by my girlfriend for Christmas 2017, but purchased on Ebay. Previously was using a keyboard bought from a Amazon mouse and keyboard set.

Update 12/17/2017: I bought a cheap speaker set from Walmart until I'm able to afford a better quality set.

Update 12/24/2017: I received the Bloody R8A Wireless Gaming Mouse from my girlfriend and Logitech G300S Gaming Mouse from my brother as Christmas gifts to add onto my PC. Previously was using an Amazon mouse from a Amazon mouse and keyboard set.

(Still need to post pictures for 01/09/2018 and 01/11/2018 updates.)
Update 01/09/2018: I purchased the Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED CPU Cooler as the stock AMD cooler that I was using was beginning to overheat my CPU and I wanted to achieve better performance.

Operating System

Mouse

Updated to this mouse on 12/24/2017 as it was a Christmas gift from my brother. I really like this mouse. It comes with the features of custom DPI modes and colors. It is RGB, however, it only included a solid color look instead of different color modes. Overall, it's a nice mouse and I use it off and on from my Bloody R8A Wireless Gaming Mouse.

Comments
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I understand the aim you had (for a budget, learning pc), but I think, if it was a recent build, you'd have been better off with a budget ryzen build.
A ryzen 3 1200 + A320 motherboard would've cost probably just 20$ more, and it would've been much smoother in games, and more importantly it would've given you an upgrade path (although I'd have spent an extra 20$ or so on top of that to get a decent B350 motherboard).

In the end I hope you had fun building it, and it satisfies your needs :)

MightyAlFred... this is true; however, shadow.fearless would also need to purchase DDR4 RAM which would double the cost in that portion if wanting to go with at least 2 sticks of RAM, but 1 stick of Ballistix Sport 8GB RAM would be cheaper for another $10 - $15 in addition, which overall, $30 - $40 more if the budget allowed would open up the Ryzen path.

I understand what you're saying, and I don't think this is a bad build at all. I'm just saying that for a few bucks more he could've had a better upgrade path.

I'm sure even with a single stick of ddr4, the performance of the r3 1200 would've been higher generally in games, since he's using a discrete graphics card, and I'm sure it wouldn't have costed much more of the 2x4 gb of ddr3 he got.

The old FX CPUs have a much lower single core performance due to IPC which is what matters most in games over core count. Even a Pentium G4560 would give better game FPS than this CPU assuming the FX cpu is overclocked.

I used to have a FX 8320 PC before I upgraded to Ryzen in April this year and it was a night and day performance difference between them. As I had an RX 470 in my FX system from an upgrade last year when that GPU came out I moved that GPU to my Ryzen PC so it was the exact same GPU on both systems. Ram speed from dual channel ddr3 to single channel ddr4 is a much smaller difference than the 52% jump in IPC from the FX line of CPUs to the Ryzen CPUs. So a single 8GB stick would work too.

When he bought this there was a $40 rebate on the processor and a $10 rebate on the motherboard. However Microcenter was offering $10 if you bundle them and another $30 off because it is their store policy to take $30 when you buy a cpu and mobo together. In the end you end up paying $40. Can't get anywhere near that price with ryzen. I just got the same thing today for a friend of mine.

Well, yeah, with these kind of rebates I'm sure the price difference went up significantly.
This will actually be a fun build to learn modding or experimenting onto, since it is cheap, as long as he has a backup, that is.

I built this PC on November 24. I'm planning to build a second build eventually with a Ryzen 5 1400, B350 mobo and 1060 6GB when affordable, then give this to my girlfriend who games a little bit on PC for her to start out.
I have plans to spray paint the case and some pieces of components blue and black for a little project for her. I may even go as far as cutting a window into it and adding blue LEDs.

It's my first build though and I wanted to be really easy on money and try out the low FX series and Asus mobo. I'm enjoying it a lot, thank you for your comment! For future builds, I will consider doing that too, it was a pretty fun build though!

I just picked up the same cpu and mobo. You should have mentioned that after the rebates you only end up paying $40 for the combo at Microcenter. I am helping a friend with a similar build. I advise you wait to upgrade till Nvidia Volta is released. Until then you should be able to play most games at 1080p low settings. Some games you may need to drop to 900p or 720p if you want 60fps. But if you are fine with 30-45 in some games then you will be fine. I do recommend replacing that psu. One that comes with a case have a reputation of blowing up or lighting on fire. Good build.

Thanks for the advice, I am looking to run at minimum specs with this build and yes, I had a sketchy feeling about the PS. I will definitely look into the Nvidia Volta also. Appreciate your comment, Nullarc77!

As I said in another comment, if you got all these rebates then this becomes a much better option, especially if you wanted a cheap build with which you can start experimenting.
Also, I think the old FX processors do quite well in newer DX12 titles, and anyway you'll be limited by that gpu first.

As for your plans, right now I'd suggest to wait for the first Zen refresh (Zen+, or whatever they will call it), which should bring slight improvements on either clocks, power draw, costs, or a mix of those.
When this happens, you should also watch what intel chips prices will be. Even though I don't like some aspects of coffeelake (the fact that it won't be upgradeable to a newer series of chips, still using thermal paste ecc), they are a good buy in certain situations. Just make sure you are set for a while if you go that route.